What It Means, To Love
by Jifslayer05
Summary: Anna loses her pokemon, but escapes out of a hairy situation with a Gallade, whom she befriends. This chronicles their tales.
1. Chapter 1

What It Means, To Love…

Jifslayer05

Chapter 1:

Anna woke up with a groan and sat up.

_Where the hell am I?_

Before she could think anything else an immense bolt of pain shot through her body. She cried and fell to the bed. Her lower abdomen was on fire, and both her left leg and her nose pulsated with sickly, nauseating throbs of pain. Tears spilled out of her eyes as she tried to sit up again. It didn't work. Slowly, as she got used to the pain, the memory came flooding back.

_She was walking through a forest with her darling Chinchou on her shoulders, producing a light in the darkness. Her other pokemon were snug in their pokeballs. She began to feel a strange sensation as they continued on, one of those "being watched" feelings. Chinchou's light began to flicker. She looked up, he was nervous. She looked around, nothing but trees and a pond nearby._

_ Suddenly, he spun around and shot a bolt of electricity into a nearby bush. A muffled yell came floating out. The sound's origin jumped out of the bush. It was an older man, looking slightly singed now. In his hand he held what appeared to be a crowbar. Glaring at the pair he yelled and threw the crowbar. It came spinning low through the air and slammed into the side of Anna's lower-left leg. The pain was unbelievable, she dropped like a rock and screamed. Surely her leg was broken, there was no way a part of your body could hurt this bad and still be working. Her Chinchou flew into a rage, and readied a bolt of electricity to stop the would-be attacker, but the man was faster. He ran forward and punted Chinchou with all his might. The unfortunate pokemon soared like a ragdoll and smashed into a nearby tree. He fell to the ground motionless._

_ Anna had seen none of this. The pain in her leg was so immense she could only hold it and cry and curse. Through the haze of pain, she discerned footsteps, and labored breathing getting louder. She looked up, the man was standing over her_

_ "Your sweet little partner gave me quite a shock, but I took care of him ehehe.." His voice was high-pitched, and he was clearly insane._

_ Anna looked around and saw her poor Chinchou laying at the base of the tree. She uttered a raw, primal heartbroken scream, and tried to crawl towards her pokemon, to comfort it. The man, at this, placed his foot on her lamed leg and all the pain rushed back, she cried out again, but the pain was replaced by anger, burning white-hot anger. She put weight on her good leg and attempted to lurch towards the attacker, unmindful of the searing throbs of pain coming from her other leg. He simply laughed and rammed his fist into her nose with all his might. This was the final straw for her body, she fell back. It wasn't possible for someone to hurt as badly as this. Surely she was going to die. The man crouched down, and was doing something to her, but she could barely feel it. She did see it, however._

_ He pulled out a knife, and began to saw through the fabric of her shorts. It didn't register in her mind what sinister plans this man had. The shorts came off and as he stared at her with an evil grin, she understood. He was going to rape her._

_ She couldn't accept this humiliation. She cried again, and screamed, but it was too late. He was having his way with her. And when this part of the fun was over, he flipped her over and tore her other side open. It was too much. Anna mercifully began to fade into darkness._

"Maybe I'll just die now…" _she thought._

_ The last thing she saw before her world went blank was the man grinning, and dropping the pokeballs from her belt one-by-one into the pond…her…_

HER POKEMON!

Anna was sitting up in a flash, unaware of the pain anymore. The sick bastard had dropped her pokemon, still in the pokeballs, into the pond. Unless the balls failed and came open, they would drown. And her poor Chinchou, what had happened to him? She lay back down upon the bed and cried for what was an eternity to her. She was utterly broken. Her pokemon were her life, she cared for them with all her being, and she had just laid there and watched as they were thrown to their doom.

Eventually she stopped crying. There were simply no more tears left in her broken frame. She dared to venture a look at her leg. The shin portion was bruised, black, tender and bloody beyond belief. It didn't look broken, but she knew she couldn't have come out of that without at least a tiny fracture. She didn't have her shorts on, just the undergarments she was wearing. She didn't have to look to know what happened there. Every single inch of her lower back and abdomen cried and burned and ached.

Her thoughts turned to this man, what kind of sick bastard would do something like this? She had to go tell someone, to get help. That was easier said than done, however. She looked around where she was. It was a room that appeared to have been hewn into a cave wall, rock surrounded her, and the only two places that the rock did not cover were barred, like a jail cell. One set of bars had a door in it, the other offered a view into another cell-like enclosure. Anna discovered here she was not alone. A pokemon was hoisted and tied to the wall. She picked out a white body, with green arms and a green head. It was a Gallade. If this man had taken her somewhere, it must be a prisoner too. She tried calling out to it.

"H-hello?" her voice was surprisingly weak.

The Gallade's eyes flashed open, and stared at her. They were sad, and dull.

"Hello", it curtly replied back.

"A-are you a p-"

"Yes, that evil despicable man has captured me."

She cried again, she couldn't help it.

"Where are we?" she choked out.

"In a small cave system somewhere, as best I've been able to discern. You look terrible." Gallade shifted uncomfortably. "Neither of us are going anywhere, care to relate your tale of woe?"

She stared at him through her swollen, black eyes. She began to recant her story to him, telling him everything but the rape. As the story drew near the end, she grew more and more hopeless about their situation. When she finished, she broke down sobbing again. When she looked up, tears spilled down Gallade's face too.

"Those poor creatures did not deserve what they received. I hate this man with every inch and fiber of my being, young lady."

"What do you k-know about him?" she asked weakly.

"The only things I know are that he calls himself "Kureji", and he is insane. I can feel it every time he gets near. I can see his thoughts. His actions have no meaning. There is no reason for us being brought here, for being tortured. He simply does things on impulse, but he is not stupid."

"But you're a Gallade, can't you, cut through your ties, or use your telekinesis or something?"

Gallade let out a sad chuckle.

"No…first of all, I was never very good at psychic abilities. The power was there, but I could never utilize it. And second, I have only one blade remaining, and he has positioned it to where upon extension, it would tear though me. Plus, he has been keeping me drugged"

"You…only have one blade left?"

"Yes…he, snapped my left one off at the base…" Gallade closed his eyes and didn't speak. Anna could almost feel the anguish rolling off him in searing waves. She tried in vain to reach through the bars to him, but he was too far away. She wanted to hold him, and let him know everything was okay. She needed contact more than anything.

Gallade sensed her deep wells of love and compassion.

"But, look at me spouting my misfortunes when you clearly are hurt and in need of support. Please forgive me, Anna." He looked at the broken girl in the next cell. She stood around as tall as he was. Her long, chestnut hair, though matted with mud and blood, looked beautiful. She had a very pale complexion, and looked very fit.

She looked up in surprise, she had never told him her name. He must have gotten it through telepathy He smiled at her, and she felt a little better.

"So, Gallade, tell me a bit more about yourself."

"Hn, there's not much to say. I was always sort of a loner, as a Ralts and Kirlia. Every human I ever got near I would only sense bad, vile emotions from them. I grew to distrust people quite a lot actually. I fervently hid, constantly, to ensure I would not be captured. But, as a result, I neglected my own species as well. All Ralts will usually find someone to connect with, and stay with as they evolve, but not me. I was…am alone. In retrospect, that's probably why I was so easy for this man to capture. But we'll save the rest of my story for another rainy day, Anna."

They both grew silent for a time. Now that the initial shock of everything had faded, she came to her senses and began to think of a way out. An idea began to slowly weave itself together in her quick mind.

"Listen, Gallade, I know you said you couldn't exactly control your psychic powers…"

"Yes, unfortunately, that is correct."

"Well what if you had some help from a Technical Machine?"

"Those aren't exactly natural, you know. It rewrites part of your brain. I'll probably get cancer, or forget how to breathe", he chuckled. Gallade was surprised he could even laugh at all.

Anna laughed back, "Oh, stop being a pansy. In all seriousness, it may be one of the only things we can do."

Gallade's face darkened again. "That's very true. I've heard his thoughts before. He wants to kill us, you know? It's the only thing he can thing about."

"K-kill…us…?" Anna shuddered, and a single tear fell on the floor, "but I, I don't want to die yet…"

Gallade could only lower his head in sympathy. He felt nothing but pain and misery coming from this girl. All her pokemon were most likely dead, and she had been humiliated beyond belief. He could sense that the man had done more than beat her. He had taken her for his own, violently. But, Gallade could sense a little flame deep down inside, flickering, but not going out. She was a survivor, and if she could keep going on, then he could too.

"Listen, Anna," his voice growing urgent, "Kureji left around three hours ago, I do not know when he is coming back, but, I will help you so that we may escape. I will do everything in my power to assist."

Feelings were stirring in Gallade, ones that were unusual. He wanted to help this girl, and not just for his own sake. Was this what it felt like, to care? He knew the textbook definition of the feeling: wanting the other entity to be happy, to help them, to be happy simply because they were. But this, this was so new.

"Listen, Gallade, I just wanted to say…that…um, you don't have to b-I mean, I don't really have anyone now, except for…you. Shit, what I mean to say i-is, you don't have to be alone anymore, I mean, if you don't want to, you know… We could be…friends…"

Gallade didn't know what to say. He had never had a true-and-blue friend before, and she was human. The voice in his head, the one that sent him into solitude, was speaking up.

_She's just a nasty human,_ his mind was telling itself.

_She just wants you to help her out so she can escape and you'll be stuck here to die._

NO, he told himself, you're lying to me, I can feel the warmth radiating off her.

_Any human will lie through their teeth in situations of need. I'm the only one who can help you._

You kept me alone for all these years.

_I kept you ALIVE!_

ENOUGH! Gallade forced the voice back into the depths of his mind.

"Anna…er, I would…love to be, your friend…"

She stared back, "Really, you mean that?"

_You'll regret this, fool. _

Shut up, Gallade told the voice.

_She's using you!_

She's not. She cares about me!

_She lies! She's not your fri-_

SHE IS MY FRIEND NOW!

At this, a huge wave of what could only be described as happiness swelled up in Gallade. It filled him to the tips of his body with joy. He couldn't hold back any longer, a huge grin grew on his face, and he let out a yell. The feelings erupted out of him in the form of psychic energy, and the ropes holding him in place simply burned away, the buckles and locks snapped into pieces, and he dropped to the ground, free at last, free from the confinement, and free from the loneliness that plagued his life, free from the horrible voice. He looked towards Anna, pride and happiness filling his voice.

"Come, friend, we need to get out of here!"

He was free at last.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

As Gallade stood up, Anna finally had the chance to get a good look at him. He seemed about as tall as she was (and skinny as a twig, but she supposed that was normal). His eyes looked different now. They seemed to glow a deep red, the color of rubies, or blood.

"I will have us out of here soon." He said. His eyes began to glow green, and his cell door began to shudder. The lock snapped and the door creaked open.

"Okay, not bad, but I thought you weren't good at psychic abilities?"

"Hnn, not good, but I can still use them. Don't let me fool you, that took up a lot of my energy. Here, let me get that for you." He chuckled, outside her cell. The door rattled, but it was taking longer. She could see the strain on Gallade's face. Finally it came open. He staggered inside and propped himself up against the bars, panting.

"Oh you poor thing, come here", she pulled him into an embrace and buried her head into his shoulder, sniffling. He wasn't quite sure what to do, so he copied her, putting his right arm around her back.

"OH MY GOD your elbow!" Anna had gotten a look at his left arm, which he had been trying to hide. It was a bloody mess.

"It's nothing for you to concern yourself with." He smiled, trying to look confident.

"Bullshit it's nothing! Let me see it!"

She gently grabbed his arm. The elbow looked horrific. It was still bleeding slightly, even now, and Anna spied ghost-white shattered bone partly protruding from the flesh.

"S-so this is what you meant when you said your blade was g-gone…"

Gallade nodded grimly, "This man is not someone to be trifled with, Anna. We can take no chances, or it would almost certainly spell death for us. We must go now."

"But wait! I need to take care of your arm. Do me a favor and grab my backpack while I get something ready, I think I saw it lying over there."

He ran out to fetch the backpack, and heard a ripping sound as he was searching. Looking back, he saw that Anna was ripping a strip of fabric from the bottom of her shirt. He couldn't stop from smiling, in spite of himself, as he came back with the pack. Anna took it and began to rummage through it.

"Here, silly, sit down so I can help you."

Gallade complied; he would have much rather been out of this cave already, but he knew this was helping Anna almost more than it was him. She was alone, and she needed something to take care of so she could feel better. Anna gently sprayed some Potion onto the wound.

"You poor dear, it's probably infected, we'll have to get this looked at."

"Look at you, fawning over me as if I just came out of the egg. You're spoiling me", he chuckled.

_But,_ he thought to himself, _you can't deny that you're enjoying this._

"There", she finished wrapping the makeshift bandage around his joint, "All better, for now. Just one more thing." She held up a small disc to his face. It began to whirr and make noise.

"Just hold still…"

"Anna what is th-"

_BEEP_

The disc produced a tremendous flash. Gallade stumbled back, holding his hands over his eyes.

"AAAH what did you do to me?"

"Oh stop being a baby; it's just a TM silly."

"A TM? You mean part of my brain really did just get rewritten!"

"More or less", she couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, what did I learn?"

"How to use the Psychic technique, hopefully. Even if you can't give a full-power blast maybe you can control your powers better at least."

"I still can't believe you changed part of my mind."

"Don't worry, I'll be there to take care of you when you forget who you are…" she smiled at him.

"That's not funny", he couldn't help but to smile back. "Now let's get out of here for good. Let me help you now."

He put his arm around her shoulder and with his help she could hobble around without having to put weight on her injured leg, and they went to look for a way out.

"Will that be all today, Sir?"

"Why, yes, thank you."

The man paid for his items, took his change and gathered his bags.

"You have a good rest of your day, Sir."

He smiled back at the young lady cashier.

"Why thank you miss, you do the same. I've got a couple things to take care of before my fishing trip tomorrow." He chuckled genially, waved and walked out the door.

The cashier thought about him for a second more. He was an older man, and exceptionally nice. His purchases had been rather normal. A nice fishing rod, a new skinning knife, and then just groceries: trash bags, rope, and some burn ointment. The next customer was ready to be checked out, and the cashier forgot all about the man.

The man hurriedly walked down the street. Outwardly, he was just as nice as ever. He smiled, he waved, he exchanged greetings; but inside, he was furious. The security alarms in his laboratory were linked with a wireless device he carried with him, alerting him of anything that might be happening.

It began to buzz again, like it had in the store. They were roaming free.

He had to hurry.

"Argh this place is like a fucking maze".

Gallade could feel Anna's temper growing shorter and shorter. It was affecting him as well.

"Listen", he proclaimed, quickly thinking of an excuse to not make Anna feel bad, "I think I should carry you from here on out. I know your leg is hurting you. If you didn't have to focus on that you could help look more effectively for a way out that I may miss."

Her heart swelled slightly. He really did care about her.

"Well that's a load of shit but, okay. I won't deny that this hurts like a bitch."

He kneeled and leaned forward so she could get on his back and ride, classic piggy-back style. Gallade was surprisingly strong, even though he was so sleek and smooth…

"Oh stop it, before I become flustered." He smiled back at her.

She blushed in embarrassment; of course he could read her feelings like an open book. She would have to work on that before she accidentally gave away something private.

They wandered through what seemed like an endless maze of rooms. It became apparent that they were in a laboratory of some sort. Strange fantastic machines blinked and whirred. Large freezers housed vials and syringes. Anna spied something on a desk nearby.

"Hey, look over there really quick."

Gallade wheeled over and Anna saw that they were files strewn over the desk. The topmost two read:"Subject 7" and "Progenitor", and paper-clipped to the files, respectively, were pictures of Anna and Gallade.

"Huh, have you ever seen these, Gallade?"

"No, I haven't, I'm clueless too. But we don't have time to read them right now."

She grabbed them on impulse and put them into her pack

Gallade thought to himself, _Gahh why did she grab those? Why did she find them? I'll simply have to destroy them before she can read what they contain…_

They wandered on. Gallade was beginning to think escaping would be futile when he smelled it: a change in the air. It was freshening, cooling. He knew they were going the right way. The poor girl had fallen asleep on his shoulders. He gazed at her sleeping form, experiencing strange and unfamiliar feelings. They both needed each other. He didn't have to be psychic to know that. She needed someone to protect her, and he would do everything in his power to make sure she made it out of this.

He came to a final door. This was it. Sweet freedom was on the other side.

The door began to creak open as he walked towards it.

"…I should have guessed you two would get out somehow…"

A shadow stood in the doorway, talking to them.

"Now Gallade, you know you should go put her back and return to your cell. You've already lost a part of yourself. No more punishment, hmm? I need you alive…"

Anna's eyes had shot open the second that voice had slinked through the air. The horrible memories all started playing back, flooding her mind with the horrible images. The shadow crept closer, coming into relief as it stepped into the light. They both saw the man, his slightly crazed eyes, and his face dead-set in a shallow but terrifying grin. Anna couldn't catch her breath; fear gripped her heart in its icy, paralyzing grasp. Now he was going to catch them. They were so close to escaping, and now it was all over. Gallade froze too, not moving. All Anna could think about was him, and her other darling Pokémon. They were gone, and now Gallade probably would be too. Tears dripped from her eyes. She couldn't lose him too; he was all she had left. Right now, he was…everything…to her.

"Y-you…sick…b-bastard…* the conviction and strength in her own voiced surprised Anna. Gallade looked up at her, seemingly broken from his spell. The fire he had felt burning deep inside was starting to grow and spread. She grew angrier by the second, a righteous rage filling her up. The fire was roaring now, forcing its way through every inch of her body. She hobbled down off of Gallade's shoulders, once again unmindful of the pain as she teetered forward.

"You…murderer…I h-hate you. My P-Pokémon…you killed them, y-you KILLED THEM!" she screamed as she lunged towards the man, bringing out her fist on a trajectory for his face. He was surprisingly quick, however, and threw his arm up, blocking the wild hay-maker. He grinned sadistically as he swung his leg around and swept it through her hurt one, tripping her. As she fell hard he stamped his boot down on her injured leg.

She let out a bloodcurdling scream, her eyes flying wide open. The pain was so severe that she vomited, still crying harshly. Gallade, horrified, could do nothing but watch as this unfolded. The man removed his foot, and bent down to Anna's shaking form. He pulled out something shiny: a new knife, with a wicked-looking edge. The man grinned as he stuck the tip in Anna's arm near the wrist and pulled it back, cutting the skin open. He repeated the procedure on her calf as blood began to slowly seep out.

"Isn't it a shame, Gallade? We're going to lose another experiment here…they're getting so hard to find. And you'll be healed up by the time we find someone else suitable. Another part of you will have to be broken. It's the only way this will ever work…"

The man's face grew determined and his merriment vanished as he raised the knife in the air. Anna watched him…ready for her life to end. Her only regret was that Gallade would have to be alone. She couldn't take care of him like she wanted. She closed her eyes as the man swung the knife down…

And nothing happened. The final jolt of pain before the sweet slumber never came. Her eyes popped open. The main was straining hard, but the knife was frozen about two inches from her chest. His eyes were wide, full of disbelief. The man's wrist jerked sideways and he gasped in pain, releasing the knife as it flew backwards down the hallway. Anna heard the pattering of running feet and suddenly Gallade tackled the man, forcing him up against the wall. His eyes glowed a severe red, and his voice dripped with seething anger.

"Leave…my friend…ALONE!" he shouted the last word into the man's face, punching him repeatedly. Anna looked on as Gallade's right elbow began to extend backwards, the skin stretching taut as his deadly blade emerged. His breath grew ragged, and he pulled his arm back, ready to strike.

"G-gallade…please…no…" she whimpered.

"What? You would spare his life after what he did to you!"

"It's not…w-worth it…"

"Hmph, not worth what!"

"Gallade…please…b-be my friend. PLEASE DON'T BE LIKE HIM!"

Gallade looked around crazily as she broke down sobbing, his bloodlust letting go of him. With a yell he threw the man as hard as he could, landing him far down the hall. He walked over to Anna, and picked her up. She latched onto him as hard as she possibly could, burying her face into his shoulder and sobbing shamelessly.

"A-Anna, even when you were seconds from death…you only thought about me…Why?"

"I d…didn't want you to b-be alone…" her voice was muffled by his shoulder.

_Is that what it means…to care about someone…to love them?_ He thought to himself.

"Well, anyway Anna…we should go."

He carried her outside, rescuing her like the gallant knight he took after. It was raining outside but neither of them minded. He turned and used his telekinesis to slam the door shut and jam the lock in place. That door would never open again. They stumbled through the forest, away from the horrible lab, until they happened upon a grand old tree with the side rotting out of it. It was around six to seven feet across, Gallade reckoned. And the inside was hollowed out mostly. A godsend.

He gently lay Anna's prone form down inside after sweeping out some rotten wood. He walked back into the woods, looking for some large leaves. When he came back, Anna was asleep. He used one leaf to fashion a bowl of sorts and collect rain water to drink. The others he used to hide the opening as best he could. He climbed back in and laid down next to the sleeping body of his friend, and stared at her for a minute. Anna opened her eyes, and smiled crookedly. She latched onto him, holding as tight as she could, and they fell asleep that way.

Gallade's last thought before he drifted off was how glad he was that he had…a friend now.


End file.
